Finnish director Kristian Smeds has succeeded in staging an impressive production about the painter Vilho Lampi. It is surprising and provoking – and lasts nearly four hours.

Finnish artist Vilho Lampi in "God Is Beauty". Photo: Martin Kaufhold

Splinters of wood fly through the air as the painter Vilho Lampi is seized by inspiration and thrashes an ax into a piece of timber. Sweat drips relentlessly, and it seems as though this man is drawn to his artworks with urgency, as though he has been kissed by desperation instead of a muse. Kristian Smeds’ “God Is Beauty” is based on the story of Vilho Lampi’s life, as recorded by the Finnish author Paavo Rintala in 1959. However, this is not a biography, but rather “a book about beauty,” Smeds quotes the author’s words shortly before the performance begins. True to this motto, the protagonist’s excruciating search for the divine and beauty pervades throughout Smeds’ staging of the artist’s biography, which begins in Vilho Lampi’s youth.

Painting for cows

This is depicted on stage through scenes of the young Lampi whipping a rope above his head, frantically dancing to klezmer music, speaking to imaginary people in matchboxes and attempting to reinvent art with his paintings. The role of the painter is divided among Kristian Smeds’ fantastic ensemble (Katja Kukkola, Tarja Heinula, Timo Tuominen, Taisto Reimaluoto, Tuomas Rinta-Panttila); Lampi is played by three men and two women. (more…)